As the title of this article suggests, it concerns a little-known book published in the 1980’s that provided a glimpse of the future that we are living in, and that we may continue to live in. It concerns a topic that in academic terms would primarily encompass the natural and social sciences. In common parlance, it concerns human behavior, given that it is a reflection of the way humans think. For the purpose of this article, we will briefly discuss the author, his book, and the concept of intelligent life so as to develop an appreciation of what intelligent life can and should look like on Earth, given that this is a topic that has received scant attention in the public sphere.
About the Author
The author of the book is Jack Catran who lived from 1918 until 2001. Academically, he held a PhD in experimental psychology and trained as a behaviorist, which is reflected in his admiration for B. F. Skinner, the latter being one of the foremost behavioral psychologists of his time, which was during the 20th century.1 Professionally, in addition to being a behavioral psychologist, Catran worked as a linguist, industrial designer, and as a human-factors engineer while working for NASA.2
During the 1980’s, Catran gained recognition after having criticized the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) program, which was intended, as its name suggests, to search for intelligent life in outer space. In particular, he was critical of Carl Sagan, the planetary scientist and science communicator of Cosmos fame due to his attempts to locate such life.3 The reasons for this become apparent upon reading his book, which is a non-fiction.
About the Book
Before delving into the book, we must consider that it was written by a scientist who viewed humans through an objective lens, and who accordingly didn’t consider them to be any different from any other object. This is to be expected given that the author was a behavioral psychologist. Hence, we notice the use of words such as “mechanisms” and “conditioning” for describing humans and their behavior. Throughout this section, we will briefly discuss the author’s book and review some excerpts.4 For the purpose of this article, we will attempt to glean some of the most significant points of contention from his book to learn about what intelligent life is.
Published in 1980 in the United States, Jack Catran’s Is there Intelligent Life on Earth? is a book that in some ways was ahead of its time, assuming that there is such a thing. What distinguishes the book is that it was written to be accessible for a general audience in order to allow nearly anyone to obtain an integrated view of how humans would need to change their way of thinking, and thus, their behavior in order to avoid their almost inevitable demise in the long-term future. Essentially, the crux of the book’s argument is that humans are failing to solve the most serious problems affecting the world, such as social inequity and injustice, some of the symptoms which include hunger, poverty, and war. The reason for this? As Catran explains, it is mainly because humans have been neglecting to adjust their cultures, including their social and economic systems in accordance to the latest science and technology. We will mull over some of the details of Catran’s way of thinking in the following paragraphs.
Although we shouldn’t proverbially judge a book by its cover, this one in particular is interesting as it states that the book contains, in capital letters, a message of substance for every human on Earth. As we can observe, though this message is especially directed to “star warriors, science fictioneers, and anthropomorphic space scientists”, including “all politicians, free enterprisers, economists, futurologists, and humanistic psychologists”, it nonetheless clearly indicates that everyone should have an interest in reading the book. But why is this so?
In order to understand the book’s message, it is worth reading the author’s acknowledgement, which begins as thus “One of the points made in this book is that none of us should be blamed or credited for our behavior; we are all products of our genetic inheritance, our past conditioning, and the current controls of our present environment”. Though this statement may at first seem astounding given how people typically assign responsibility to each other, it is vital to consider that genes, environments, and experiences are what define humans. In other words, there is no such thing as “free will” in that we are only as free as our awareness permits.
Although the book concerns human intelligence (or the lack of), it also addresses its relation to long-term human survival and well-being. The first chapters primarily elucidate the psychological pitfalls that cause humans to make erroneous observations about the nature of reality. This is perhaps most evident in the chapter called “Trap Thinking”. Herein, Catran makes a crucial observation:
As we accumulate knowledge our behavior substitutes awareness and a sense of perspective for dogma and foolishness. Or, to put it another way, to be a good specialist in any field we had better become good generalists and expose ourselves to the entire spectrum of scientific knowledge.5
What this means is that if we are not well informed about the nuances that distinguish each scientific discipline then we are more likely to be biased than those who are. In this chapter and others that proceed from it, Catran explains how the figures mentioned on the cover of his book (see above) have all shared a tendency, which is that of projecting their own beliefs without being aware of their own biases or of their implications. He argues that this is unfortunate because the world’s most serious problems can only be appropriately addressed by generalists who are attuned to the needs of societies. In this regard, he asserts that the profession of the city planner is among those that are the most relevant due to its holistic approach to problem solving, which in this context translates into designing urban areas that have ecological integrity.
Beyond the confines of disciplines, Catran extrapolates from past trends and anticipates the demise of the capitalist system, followed by the appearance of a technocratic governance, which as he explains would lead to the obsolescence of business, finance, and politics as we know it. That is to say, the reason why his book has the title that it has is because he is alluding to the fact that American space scientists during the 20th century were spending their time on discovering intelligent life in outer space rather than on Earth. In other words this issue is one of prioritization. It is for this reason why Catran ponders the following:
When will scientists look up from their microscopes and down from their telescopes, and see that our whole system would come to a grinding halt without them, that only they can solve our social problems, and that our one hope tomorrow is the establishment of a science of human affairs today?”.6
Needless to say, it is apparent that societies and cultures have not progressed significantly since the publication of his book. As Catran points out a significant reason why little meaningful change has happened is because the wealthy elite, which are primarily comprised of bankers, businessmen, and politicians have maintained and will continue to maintain a grip on their power for as long as they can, even if it is to the detriment of the general public. It is not that they’re the problem; it is that they are a part of it. As such, as he argues, it is likely that only a collapse in capitalism will suffice in order to bring about a global transformation that would liberate the public from its negative externalities, which include but are not limited to:
the soaring prices of homes, cost of living, medical and dental costs, hospital costs; work lay-offs, rising crime rates, sabotage, terrorism, unfair employment practices, racial and sexual discrimination, civil rights violations, small brush fire wars, exploitation of sex and violence, the torpor of television and movies, corruption in big business and high places, misrepresentation in advertising, [and] pollution.7
In the latter half of his book, Catran describes what the future of humanity may look like assuming science and technology were to continue advancing on their present trajectory. In this regard, he foresees a future of abundance where everyone has secure access to the resources they need. In addition, Catran asserts that all people would live in what he refers to as “self-contained functional systems”, which are cybernetic cities that are engineered by using the best that science has to offer. Everything that people need for their survival would be made available at no financial cost as industrial production would be almost entirely automated with the aid of artificial intelligence, meaning that barter or trade, including scarcity would become a thing of the past. Accordingly, this would represent the attainment of a way of life where leisure rather than professional work becomes the norm for societies, which is something that we can only imagine at present.
Although somewhat speculative the final chapters of the book depict a future that may have seemed utopian at the time of its publication. Even today, one could argue that it seems farfetched to expect a future where money is redundant, where all of the world’s nations join together in peace, and where aircraft powered by anti-gravity propulsion becomes a reality. Yet, as Catran explains, it is difficult for anyone to make any meaningful prognosis unless they develop the ability to think beyond their own biases and value systems. As of 2022, it appears as though this has yet to happen at any meaningful level. This is unfortunate from a humanistic perspective because most people will not become aware of reality until it is too late, which means that the transition to a more humane and intelligent future will necessarily involve some form of suffering.
About the Meaning of Intelligence
As of today, Jack Catran’s book is slightly out of date. Additionally, there are certain aspects of his book that are questionable. Therefore, it is worth discussing some of these for understanding the meaning of intelligence.
Perhaps the first thing that is worth questioning is the way in which Catran is critical about the space scientists looking for evidence of intelligent life in outer space due to their projection bias. Given that on multiple occasions he rebukes their efforts for locating such life, he almost makes the same error when projecting his own beliefs about how societies will almost inevitably enjoy a higher quality of life as a result of scientific and technological advancement. As is evidenced by the chapters “Welcome to Tomorrow” and “What will Happen to our Cities?”, he makes a prognosis about the future while making it appear as though human evolution is a destiny. However, he is correct if we assume that nothing unthought of happens that poses a significant risk to human evolution. Yet, he does not make this entirely clear in the way he communicates his thoughts.
Another aspect that is questionable is how Catran perceives certain words from the English language. For instance, in the chapter “Trap Thinking”, he states that words such as “large, small, beautiful, and ugly contribute nothing to clear communication”, to which he later adds “as long as we use words such as mind, intention, purpose, drive, motivation, will, and creativity, we will continue to practice psychology as witchcraft rather than as a useful science”.8 Although what he says is not incorrect insofar as the vagueness of these words is concerned, Catran does not suggest alternative options for communicating one’s intentions. This is problematic because there are no other words in the English language that are available for replacing them. What are we to do if we want to express concepts, ideas, and/or theories in the vernacular? By relinquishing the use of these words, we reduce our ability to express what we are thinking about. Perhaps in the future we will develop a language that is more appropriate for communicating objectively. Nonetheless, until we do so, it would be foolish to remove these words from our vocabulary simply because they are vague in and of themselves. As with anything and everything, their usage is dependent upon a context that is appropriate.
Finally, it is worth commenting about Catran’s remarks concerning intelligent life; in his book he suggests or mentions a number of times that there is no intelligent, extraterrestrial life to be found outside of Earth’s proximity. In due part to the internet’s capacity to democratize research and to make transparent what before may have been kept secret is that intelligent extraterrestrial life is gradually becoming an accepted reality. Though this may seem like an incredible statement to make given that this is a topic that is on the fringe of what is considered socially acceptable, there is now enough evidence to disprove Catran’s claim that “We are ALONE in the universe”, as featured on the front cover of his book.9-10
What is the meaning of intelligence? Although we have just critiqued certain aspects of Catran’s perception, this does not mean that he has not made intelligent observations in his book. What it does indicate, simply, is that he lacks knowledge in certain subject matters. Hence, there is a difference between knowledge and intelligence.
Based upon what has been discussed, intelligence concerns the application of science and technology for solving problems that affect humans, thus enabling them to experience lives that are healthier, safer, happier, and more meaningful. In this sense, intelligence is akin to wisdom as it involves not only acquiring knowledge for its own sake, but it also requires an understanding of the knowledge that is relevant for encouraging long-term human survival and well-being. Hence, although humans may have knowledge, they do not necessarily have wisdom. As such, we may deduce that as of the beginning of the 21st century, humanity is not yet intelligent. Nonetheless, it has reached a point in its evolution where it is beginning to make significant progress in this regard.
References
1 To learn more about B. F. Skinner and his work, I suggest reviewing the website of the B. F. Skinner Foundation, which is available through the following link: https://www.bfskinner.org/.
2 Rolfe, L., 1998. Fat Man on the Left. Los Angeles, California: California Classics Books, pp.157-179. Available at: https://archive.org/details/fatmanonleftfour0000rolf/page/178/mode/2up.
3 For more information about Carl Sagan and his affiliation with the SETI program, please consult the following link: https://www.seti.org/carl-sagan.
4 Catran, J., 1980. Is there Intelligent Life on Earth?. Sherman Oaks: Lidiraven Books. Available at: https://archive.org/details/ISTHEREINTELLIGENTLIFEONEARTH_201610/page/n1/mode/2up.
5 This quote is taken from page 9 of the book.
6 This quote is taken from page 146 of the book.
7 This quote is found on pages 145-146 of the book.
8 These quotes are found on pages 10-11 of the book.
9 The Exopolitics website is dedicated not only to presenting evidence of extraterrestrial activity, but also to discussing its implications for the world. In relation, although it no longer appears to be in operation, the Exopolitics journal has published a number of articles for the purpose of establishing exopolitics as a discipline for conducting research into diplomacy between humans and extraterrestrials. Link: https://exopolitics.org/about/.
10 The Sirius Disclosure website is dedicated to helping humans develop a “peaceful relationship with Extraterrestrial Intelligence (ETI)”. It is based upon the work of multiple initiatives, one of which is the Disclosure Project, the latter being intended to disclose the reality of the extraterrestrial presence. To this day, Sirius Disclosure is committed to disseminating evidence of extraterrestrials and their activities. Link: https://siriusdisclosure.com/about-us/.